Friday, November 7, 2008

Surendranath Gupta has not had a sound sleep for the past few days. Rats from open drains and fears of thieves looting the shops rendered shutterless due to road widening work have meant that he stays guard at his shop through the night.

So is the case with many a shop owner on the BB Road stretch in Yelahanka.

The shutters of the shops were removed by the shop owners as that portion of the land was identified for demolitions for the road widening work which started on Wednesday. Many houses and shops in the area thus stand partly demolished.

The shutter of Gupta’s shop was removed prior to the demolition process.

“Good that I had removed the shop shutter on my own, or else they would have caused more damage to the shop and it would have been an additional loss. Road widening work has meant loss in business and the Palike (BBMP) does not give any compensation,” he said, noting, “We cannot have the shutters till the road work is completed.We have to spend many nights guarding our stores”.

NO WATER TOO

The water supply lines were damaged during the road work and water supply is affected in the area.

“We are getting the damaged pipes repaired at our own cost,” said Bhujang Roa, land owner.

“We were not given prior intimation about the demolitions and we had to face a lot of problems because of the sudden development.

All we wish is that they complete the road widening work at the earliest,” said Chandrashekar, another trader on this stretch.

When contacted the BBMP officials said that the work will be completed in 15 days.

The affected residents can only hope that the civic agency keeps its word.